Fight Over FCC Privacy Rule Ramps Up Ahead of Vote

The Federal Communications Commission’s plan to designate web browsing and app usage as “sensitive” has privacy advocates cheering and the industry rushing to lobby the agency to tweak the final rule ahead of next week’s vote. Sen Ed Markey (D-MA), a privacy advocate, told reporters that “every click Americans make online paints a detailed picture of their lives. … Consumers should have the power to stop ISPs from collecting and using their browsing information, app usage data and other sensitive information without their express consent.”

Opponents argue that the FCC should avoid adding new categories to the existing Federal Trade Commission definition of “sensitive” data. “The proposal to include web browsing and apps usage data as sensitive information would be especially counterproductive,” the industry officials said in their filing. They added that consumers “benefit” from online advertising and personalized content that the use of web browsing history and apps usage information allows. On the other side of the debate, advocacy groups including Public Knowledge and the Center for Democracy and Technology met with FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn’s office to urge the agency to make the definition of sensitive data “as expansive as possible,” according to a filing.